Sweating, swearing and suited - at least to start with - Baxter Dury was at his best in Manchester. But the crowd seemed somewhat unenthusiastic in parts of the performance.

The 51-year-old son of Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll singer Ian Dury delivered a typically passionate performance at New Century Hall on Saturday night (October 14). Touring his seventh studio album, 'I Thought I Was Better Than You', the hour-long performance of gritty pop and poetry was peppered with his best-known tracks from his twenty-plus years in the business.

His latest studio album deals with the difficulties and peculiarities of his relatively privileged but troubled background as the son of a rock star with whom his relationship was complicated to say the least. The singles from his latest LP - Aylesbury Boy, Leon and Celebrate Me - went down well, as did popular songs from past releases I'm Not Your Dog, Miami and Cocaine Man.

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But the party only really got started in the penultimate part of the performance when the Buckinghamshire-born singer treated fans to a Fred Again song he features on. Baxter (these are my friends), saw the sprung dancefloor of the recently renovated music venue put to good use - but the audience was more static throughout the rest of the set.

This was probably more of a reflection of the tracks he chose to perform from his latest album, much of which the crowd did not know well enough to sing along to, than the quality of the performance itself. Dancing like a drugged-up dad, Dury's energy on stage did not mirror that of the fans in front of him who applauded him with sincere adoration between every song.

Dressed in a grey suit to start with, Baxter - who appeared on stage almost 20 minutes later than originally billed - took off his blazer swiftly. But that that didn't stop the sweat dripping down his short-sleeved shirt like an hour-glass as the set went on.

Don't be fooled by his confidence on stage. This is Dury at his most vulnerable, shouting about his fragile male ego.

All that was missing was the tall white men who made up much of the audience letting their guards down too.